


Hands

by Planty



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ASL, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 03:41:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Planty/pseuds/Planty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Camden is deafened in an ambush and Danny is his ASL tutor.</p><p>Isaac of course, is completely caught in the middle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Discussion of PTSD, injury during combat – Sign Language usually isn’t as concise, but I’m summarising the ‘translations’ to the clearest interpretations. Also, this takes an entirely fantastical approach to how long it really takes to master ASL to such fluency. Poetic license and whatnot.

“Camden, please.”

Camden does nothing. Doesn’t even look up – but he must know Isaac is trying to talk to him, for he’ll shy away every time Isaac tries to grasp at his arm.

He remembers the day he found out about Camden’s attack. The sudden gut wrenching  _fear_ as they started discussing blood transfusions, surgery prognosis and most of all ‘irreparable loss of hearing’.

Isaac remembers going to visit him in the hospital and feeling a kind of hopeful optimism – he met Camden’s fellow troops who’d been in the same ambush, and they greeted him like a friend. None of them seemed at all disheartened by their injuries, not even Private Morrison – ‘Call me Morrisey’ – who had to leave early be fitted for a prosthetic leg.

“You learn to realise any wound is a possibility,” Morrisey had said. “Lahey will come around, you’ll see.”

Camden had stared stonily out of the window when Isaac visited the first time, not even acknowledging his presence. The next time, he glanced at Isaac briefly and pointedly looked the other day. The third wasn’t much different, nor the fourth.

Now, Camden is still staring out of the window, but there’s already a note for Isaac in front of him.

_Leave me alone_

* * *

 

A few weeks later and Camden is finally discharged. The nurses and doctors said he’d made good progress, but Isaac doesn’t see it. Camden just sits at the breakfast bar, staring out of the window, barely moving except to eat, use the bathroom and sleep. He attends his appointments, yet Isaac has no idea how they’re going.

A week on, Isaac sees someone leaving his brother’s apartment. The man smiles briefly at Isaac and jogs down the stairs. Heading straight for the kitchen, Isaac fumbles in his pocket and pulls out the notepad he’s taken to carting around with him.

_Who was that?_

Camden flicks his gaze to the note, scowls, and scrawls something on his own stack of paper.

_Some guy sent by the rehab clinic._

Rehab clinic? Camden’s walking is fine now – he barely even has to use the crutch – so it must be –

_Speech therapist?_

Camden sneers,  _sign language tutor._ He writes, dotting the period with a jab of his pen. Isaac chews his lip.

_Will I get lessons too? I think I should._

Camden’s jaw tightens and he writes nothing in reply. Isaac sighs and begins to make dinner, Camden barely moving from his spot on the chair.

* * *

 

Isaac drops by his brother’s apartment every day. He suggests moving in, only to be met with the filthiest glare possible. He camps out on the couch a few times, being nudged awake before he can fully drop off and told to go home.

_I don’t need you acting like my fucking nurse._

The latest note is written on the whiteboard in Camden’s freakishly tidy script. Isaac grits his jaw and begins to start lunch. 

The doorbell system the clinic had installed – a light box in lieu of a chime – lights up. Camden glances at it and then stares firmly down at the paper he’s reading. Isaac fidgets and then trots down the hall to answer.

“Hello?”

A handsome, tanned man stands smiling in the doorway. He nods at Isaac and draws out a pad of paper.

_I’m Danny, the tutor_

“Um,” Isaac wonders briefly if Danny is also deaf and how much it’s possibly to convey through awkward pointing and hand gestures, “hi, come in.”

Danny signs back  _thank you,_ Isaac knows that much. He leads him through the corridor, suddenly aware of how much work this place needs  - peeling wallpaper, scuffed borders, mismatched furniture they never got round to replacing. It’s kind of embarrassing, considering Danny’s dressed causally, but clearly in high quality clothes.

Danny taps him on the shoulder and holds up his pad,

_Do you know if Camden’s looked at the packet I gave him?_

Isaac shrugs, fumbles in his pocket for a scrap of paper. Danny quickly jots something down.

 _It’s okay, I can hear._  From the expression on Danny’s face as he writes, he doesn’t care for the word.  _Mute. Not deaf._

“Oh,” Isaac says, leaning against the kitchen door. “I don’t know if he’s looked at the thingy. Probably not.”

Danny nods, looking supremely unsurprised as pushes past Isaac to greet Camden.

* * *

 

Isaac sits in the living room, idly flicking through TV channels, trying to find something suitably mind-numbing and time consuming. Eventually he settles on some documentary about orbiting satellites or something and lets the drone of Dr Srodek from NASA lull him into a pleasant stupor. An hour later, Danny emerges from the kitchen. He casts a quick, impressed look at the documentary Isaac’s watching and leaves.

Isaac watches him. It’s a damn nice view, after all.

* * *

 

Camden is resolutely uncooperative for the next couple of days. Some of his squad try to visit only to be awkwardly ushered away. The flashcards, books and charts remain untouched. Isaac dutifully does the grocery shopping and makes dinner every night.

When Camden refuses to eat, it’s the final straw. Before Isaac knows it, he’s flung half the food across the kitchen and is screaming, tears pouring down his face, chest raggedly heaving.

“You – you – just sit in silence, not knowing, not  _caring_ what’s going on around you. This is what it’s going to be like for the  _rest of your life_ if you don’t fucking _cooperate,_ Jesus, Camden! I get it, okay? I get that you’re having a hard time. I get that this fucking  _sucks,_ but it’s happened, so it’s time to  _deal._ ”

Camden can’t hear him, but Isaac’s willing to bet he gets the gist. The thrown plates must add something to emphasise the point, too. He storms out, not caring about the smashed crockery and splattered food, not caring about the mess, not caring about Camden’s blank stare.

As Isaac slam the door shut, feeling it tremble in the hinges, he feels beyond caring.

* * *

 

The coffee shop is busy. Isaac reaches for his notepad, only to realise that everyone in here can probably hear him. He seats himself at the only available table, sipping through the coffee with a deeply cored guilt.

He should go back.

He should clean up.

He should make sure Camden’s eaten  _something._

A tap on his shoulder jolts him from the spiral of thoughts. He looks up and Danny’s frowning down at him.

_Isaac, right?_

Isaac nods, and gently nudges the chair opposite him. There aren’t any other free seats. Danny smiles gratefully and settles down, pad out in front of him.

 _Thanks, this place usually isn’t as busy. My sister works here. It’s easier getting coffee when you don’t have to write it all down._ Danny pauses for a beat, _something wrong?_

Isaac sighs, “it’s fine. Nothing.”

_Camden?_

Isaac doesn’t even try to deny it. Just nods grimly and tags a swig of coffee.

 _Still not cooperating?_ Danny scrawls, drinking from his own cup.

“We had a fight – well,” Isaac huffs a laugh, “I screamed at him for a little while and then stormed out. Not too sure if he noticed.”

Danny nods understandingly and motions for Isaac to continue.

“I shouldn’t have yelled,” Isaac mutters, twisting a napkin between his fingers. “He was in a fucking  _explosion_ for Christ sake. I should be more sympathetic.”

 _He doesn’t want your sympathy,_ Danny neatly scribbles,  _you know that._

“What does he want? I’ve tried tough love, coddling and everything in between.”

_From my experience, I guess the thing Camden wants most is his hearing back. He can’t have that, but he refuses to accept it and can’t move on from it._

“I don’t know how to make him move on.”

_You can’t make him_

“But - ”

Danny holds up a hand and taps  _you can’t make him _with the tip of his pen.  _So don’t_ he writes underneath.

“But what do I do?”

Danny looks unsure, twirling the pen absently in his fingers. He flips to a fresh page and Isaac watches as the words come out with impressive speed.

_I wasn’t always mute. I was seven and got hit by a car, woke up from a coma, couldn’t speak and haven’t been able to since. I’ve heard cases like mine also ending in paralysis, so maybe I’m some kind of lucky._

_It was frustrating, because my mom was upset that I was like this and my brothers were too little to understand that their big brother couldn’t talk to them anymore. They thought I was ignoring them._

Isaac nods and takes a sip of his coffee, Danny’s frowning down at his hands, his fingers twitching every so often.

_My dad kind of pulled through at the beginning. His aunt was deaf, so he began showing me basic sign before I could have a tutor arranged. It’s why I teach, because being able to communicate was the thing I needed most and I want to give other people that chance._

Danny shakes out his hand, wrist obviously cramping from the speed writing he’s doing.

_It’s still frustrating sometimes. Writing out everything I want to say gets annoying, but it’s better than feeling sorry for myself._

Isaac traces the rim of his cup, “Camden needs to stop feeling sorry for himself,” he mutters. Danny nods.

_He needs you to stop feeling sorry for him too._

“I don’t!”

_Does he know that?_

Isaac shrugs, “maybe.”

Danny chews his pen thoughtfully,

 _Just keep being who you were before everything happened. I don’t think Camden wants_ Isaac 2.0: Nurse Edition _I just think he wants his little brother to stop trying to act like the big brother._

Isaac stares down at the note, stomach twisting painfully. It had been him and Camden for so long that – well,  _one_ of them had always taken on the role of big brother. Even when he was deployed, Camden would send joke cards home with ‘eat your vegetables!’ on and one, cringe worthy time when Isaac foolishly mentioned he had a date, Camden had sent condoms with a winky face postit note attached. Isaac swore he could hear the laughter from the different  _continent_ his brother was on.

“Will you teach me sign language?” Isaac flushes nervously as Danny looks up, “or get me the number of a tutor if you haven’t got time for another student.”

Danny smiles, writing before Isaac had even finished stammering his way through the request,  _of course I can teach you._

* * *

 

Isaac goes home to his own apartment that night. His roommate doesn’t stir from her drunken stupor on the couch, so he heads straight for his room and collapses on the bed. Danny had given him an instructional packet, much like the ones he gives his other students.

He’d also given Isaac his number. Isaac tries not to read too much into that.

* * *

 

Two days after his big meltdown, Isaac returns to Camden’s apartment. He knows he hasn’t been welcome for the past few days, but he can’t stay away long.

Camden is still in the kitchen, but the mess has been cleared and maybe, possibly, the rest of the apartment has been tidied up too.

 _Your turn to make dinner,_ Isaac signs, not entirely sure if Camden can understand – hell, he’s taken this from an ASL website.  _Okay?_

Camden doesn’t reply. Isaac shrugs and goes to sit in the living room.

* * *

 

Half an hour later, Isaac is woken from his nap on the couch. Camden roughly shoves a plate of pasta into his hands and slams back into the kitchen. Isaac takes a bite, grinning, and texts Danny the news.

* * *

 

 _Make the movements slower,_ Danny curves one hand around Isaac’s, using the other to write on the pad,  _otherwise you’re difficult to understand_

“Sorry,” Isaac mumbles. Danny smiles brightly.

_Don’t be, you’re doing great._

* * *

 

Danny doesn’t mind if Isaac switches between sign and speaking. Especially when it’s just the two of them getting coffee and Isaac struggles to find words to form with his hands.

“I hated school. My grades were never great and I just stayed on the sidelines. I was shy. The quiet kid.”

Danny’s mouth quirks,  _Yeah, I was the ‘quiet’ kid too._

Isaac feels his jaw drop. God. He’s a moron. A monumental moron. Danny however, shakes his head, smiling,  _it’s okay. Don’t worry about offending me._

 _Sorry,_ Isaac’s hands waver,  _I’m really –_

He pauses, trying to figure out the sign for ‘stupid’ or preferably ‘completely idiotic’. Maybe he should go back to speaking. Danny raises an eyebrow,  _you’re really what?_

Isaac waves his hands,  _“_ don’t know how to sign it.”

Danny stares down, tapping his fingers thoughtfully. Eventually, he lifts his head and shapes out something,  _You’re really –_

He makes a gesture that Isaac doesn’t understand.

 _Anyway,_ Danny shifts nervously,  _why didn’t you like school?_  

Isaac flexes his hands and stretches out a cramp,  _people were mostly okay but I wasn’t great at lessons. I_   _hated calculus most of all. I don’t understand it - period._

Danny’s eyes widen slightly and he repeats Isaac’s gesture back to himself thoughtfully. Eventually he smiles widely, shakes his head and grabs a pen,  _you just told me that you don’t understand calculus menstruation._

Isaac flushes, “I meant period as in – totally.”

Danny grins,  _I guessed._   _So you’ve been looking online for translations, then?_

“Of course. I like being able to talk to Camden and you.”

Danny looks so softly surprised and touched that Isaac aches a little bit for him.

* * *

 

When he gets home, Isaac looks up the gesture Danny used.

It means gorgeous.  

* * *

 

Camden begins to cooperate. Kind of. He stops scowling whenever he sees Danny anyhow.

Isaac isn’t allowed – on Camden’s request – to have joint lessons. Camden has a rigid schedule, something he’s always preferred and Isaac has lessons whenever Danny can spare the time. Weeks pass and the sessions begin to dwindle as both brothers grow more and more confident. Camden’s more responsive and Isaac finds out he’s been attending his counselling appointments.

Danny teaches Camden the basics of lip reading. He tries to teach Isaac too, but there’s only so long before Isaac and Danny can stare at eachother’s lips before the inevitable happens.

And it was definitely the inevitable.

* * *

 

“Isaac.”

His brother’s voice – foreign to him for so long – is firm and unwavering. It’s slightly overly enunciated, like Camden is a paranoid he’s saying something wrong.

Isaac sits. It’s been a while since his brother’s been this willing to talk.

Camden hesitates and begins to sign out something, his movements are surprisingly confident,  _I just wanted to say,_ his hand stutters slightly,  _how sorry I am._

Camden then abruptly stands, grabbing something from the crisper draw and a knife. He begins making dinner, only for Isaac to grab his elbow.

 _Why?_ Isaac spells out.

Camden rolls his eyes and ruffles Isaac’s hair, grinning at the scowl it earns him, _you know why_ he shapes.

Isaac bites back the sudden tears that springs hotly to his eyes,  _you don’t have to apologise for anything._ His hands are trembling and he clenches them into fists, Camden sighs, wrapping him into a hug.

 _We’ll be okay,_ he seems to say.  

* * *

 

Camden doesn’t actually know Danny and Isaac are dating. Is dating even the right word? They meet up for lunch, spend hours talking about things completely unrelated to ASL and the sex is pretty much fantastic.

Oh, and Danny didn’t mind Isaac making the shamelessly salacious jokes about having a boyfriend who’s ‘good with his hands’.  _Boyfriend,_ ergo, they must actually be dating.

_What do you want for dinner?_

Isaac twiddles his thumbs at Camden’s question. They usually eat dinner together, but Danny wants to try out a new Italian place in town. Apparently the carbonara is to die for.

_I’m not staying for dinner._

Camden’s eyebrow twitches,  _oh?_

_I’m having dinner with someone else._

Camden smirks,  _like a date?_ He pauses, fingers flexing for a second. He rifles in the kitchen draw, pulling out a mostly disused pad and pen,  _do I need to give you the ‘talk’ again? Condoms. Boundaries. Just say no, etc._

Isaac covers his face, mortified. Camden laughs loudly because he is the ultimate bastard of a big brother.  His hands are pried away and Isaac is faced with another note.

_Is it Danny?_

Isaac fidgets. Nods. Camden purses his lips,  _Cool. Some of the guys were suggesting a poker night anyway._

Camden still looks slightly lost, but he nudges Isaac with his foot. Isaac kicks him back, frowning and Camden rolls his eyes, shaping something complex for Isaac to understand.

 _What?_ Isaac writes on his pad. Camden seems momentarily pleased at something and then grabs the paper.

_Go on your date, idiot._

* * *

 

The weeks turn into months and the months turn into years because – well, that’s how time  _goes._ Sometimes it crawls by, like when Camden gets his bad days or Isaac gets his hide-me-away-forever days or when Danny grows a little too frustrated with explaining to people that  _he can’t actually talk and no, it isn’t for charity._ Sometimes it flies by, like Danny and Isaac’s trip to Paris or the day they get lucky with a competition and have a stupidly huge blowout on ridiculous luxury goods.

Camden dates again. Lisa from the florist. Tilly from the furniture store. Rebecca from down the hall. No one really sticks, but that was Camden through and through.

Danny starts his own web design business and Isaac turns into his kind of secretary. The buy an apartment together and Danny’s family come by to visit. Isaac is 100% horrifyingly certain that Danny has been given the ‘Big Brother’ talk by Camden – ‘ _dude was in the military, I’m not pissing him off any time soon. Also, I kind of love you. So there’s that’._

So there was that.

The one year anniversary of Camden’s ambush passes without ceremony. As does the second. Life is so much different from before then, but it’s undeniable that things are pretty damn good.

* * *

 

Isaac comes home to see Danny curled up on the couch, blanket slung around his shoulders and nose firmly buried in a book. There’s two cups of coffee next to him – one warm and full and the other half drunk and stale looking because Danny alwaysmakes a coffee and forgets to drink it before it gets cold.

The feeling of love that thrums through Isaac is so intense it  _hurts._ Before he even knows it, he’s flopping onto the couch, burrowing under the blanket next to Danny and blurting -

“Danny, how do you ask someone to marry you?”

Danny blinks,  _sorry?_

“How do you ask someone to marry you,” Isaac waggles his fingers, “you know, in sign?”

Danny seems to be stuck in headlights, eyes wide with emotion. Eventually, he lifts his slightly trembling hands.

 _I’ll tell you,_ Danny says with a grin,  _but I’m going to be really pissed if it turns out you’re asking someone else._

Isaac smiles and holds his hands out to Danny, who takes them and carefully sweeps out the words Isaac has so longed to ask. He then replies.

Isaac still has a lot to learn, but he knows  _yes_ when he sees it. 


End file.
